Premier Christy Clark says she is "confident" B.C. and Canada have the right team in place to negotiate a new softwood lumber agreement with the United States despite "unpredictable change" caused by the new Trump presidency.

Clark expressed those sentiments at a Thursday news conference following a special cabinet meeting.

"We got a briefing from them about what's going on in the administration in the United States and talking a little bit about putting a plan together," she said.

"I'm confident with Ambassador MacNaughton and David Emerson … and of course our incredibly hard-working forest minister and a united industry in British Columbia, we have the team that we need to get an agreement."

Clark says a major change in negotiations is that the Trump administration is more interested in negotiating a deal, which, she says, the Obama administration was not.

"The American negotiators were not interested in getting an agreement," she said. "The previous government in the United States was interested in making sure they got the [Trans Pacific Partnership] done but was not as focused on the softwood lumber agreement.

"This new government is taking an opposite view on one, and we're hoping an opposite view on the other."

President Donald Trump (right) and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met earlier in February in Washington. Ambassador David MacNaughton says U.S. officials considered the issue of softwood lumber to be a “minor” issue. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press)

'Tough stuff'

MacNaughton shared the premier's confidence, saying a plan was being developed to get "the best deal possible."

He and Emerson agreed, however, that softwood negotiations had little to do with the president's office, and said protectionist policies were largely driven by the U.S. industry and their allies in Congress.

"This is tough stuff," MacNaughton said. "We're not subsidizing our lumber. This is just protectionism and we've got an opportunity now, I think, to cut a deal that's good for British Columbia and good for Canada."